"I immediately had a bad feeling" - Analyst apologizes for harsh comments aimed at Célia Gery
Cycling
Demi Vollering landed a two-part blow to dethrone Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney in the final weekend of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes. Part of that success may be attributed to her teammate Célia Gery who did a perfect job setting up her Dutch leader's attack on stage 8. But the way it's been achieved caused an online storm which included some nasty comments which went over the top more than once.
Approaching the final 400-meter wall on otherwise relatively kind-profiled stage 8, the peloton still featured a wide range of contenders for stage victory. Gery set at the front, pushing pace for FDJ - SUEZ leader Vollering but, as the road turned left to enter the key ascent, the two swapped positions, allowing Vollering to immediately create distance to yellow jersey Niewiadoma-Phinney who had to come past Gery before she could respond to Vollering's acceleration.
Even though she was able to close the gap, Vollering continued to push and eventually broke the Pole just before the summit top. As she managed to expand her lead, Vollering seized the yellow jersey. And would not let go in the final stage.
The long list of those who lashed out at Gery to mark her move as "very, very ugly” and "deliberate" included former professional Roxanne Kneteman who openly criticzed Gery on the In Het Wiel podcast.
But reflection came soon after, and Knetemann promptly admitted that, although the move was not completely clean, such racing incidents are not uncommon and the wave of hatred was disproportional.
"After we had recorded the podcast, I realised that a lot of listeners might have thought that, with those strong comments, I wanted everyone to hang Célia Gery out to dry. I immediately had a bad feeling about it, because that was absolutely not what I wanted."
It's not as though Gery broke a taboo...
Although the tactic of "dropping the wheel" (two teammates ride behind each other with the one behind slowing down to create gap to a teammate ahead) is not commonly widespread, it is part of many team's playbook and as such, Gery did not mean to cause to no harm other than create a tactical advantage.
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The turn of events where Niewiadoma-Phinney reported found herself blocked on the barriers was arguably partly her own mistake, choosing to pass Gery on the side with less room to move up.
"Things like this happen seven or eight times during a race, but I thought the way Gery dealt with the yellow-jersey wearer was disrespectful. It wasn’t entirely accidental, although I really don’t believe she wanted to ride her into the barriers. But that still makes it a little disrespectful. At the same time, I realise that a lot of unpleasant stuff is now coming Gery’s way, and she has only just turned 20."
Of course, some (mostly French) fans went on support of their youngster Gery, meaning Knetemann herself had to deal with some criticism. Although on a much lower scale.
"Fortunately, I haven’t received any death threats, but quite a lot has already been directed at me as well. I can imagine what something like that does to a 20-year-old girl. I feel really sorry for her because of that, and she doesn’t deserve it, because she rode an absolutely incredible Tour," Knetemann stressed.
"The last thing I wanted was to make it personal towards her, because plenty of other people are already doing that. I feel that we share some responsibility for what has happened. We also said out loud that she did it deliberately, when in reality I cannot know that for certain. I hope we weren’t too harsh on Gery. We never want to damage riders."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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